A ‘BEAUTIFUL’ YEAR
State turned cottage products like nasi dagang into global hits, among other developments
AS the end of the Visit Beautiful Terengganu Year draws nigh, 2017 truly reflected a “beautiful” 12 months for the state with almost no disasters, apart from the recent wet spell, which is considered extra mild compared with previous editions.
The calm was felt on all fronts — from politics to society — which enabled the state administrators to implement most programmes unhindered by protests by unsatisfied parties or natural calamities.
Top on the agenda was promoting Terengganu as a domestic and international tourism hub by moving away from traditional practices of organising district-level events — which it still does to satisfy locals — to more impactful events that opened the state’s attraction to the outside world.
It did this with zest and its biggest achievement this year was making nasi dagang and keropok lekor global hits.
The two traditional dishes have captured the palates of curious diners in London and Australia.
Soon, nasi dagang and keropok lekor may be included on the menu of long-haul flights, especially those bound for Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Promoting a humble cottage product to one that is accepted internationally is no easy achievement.
Another iconic tourism product is Tasik Kenyir, which was officially declared a free-trade zone in late August.
Much attention was paid to the country’s largest man-made lake to divert tourists from the more established island escapades at Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Redang and Pulau Kapas.
The effort to attract a greater number of visitors among the locals had been successful as seen from the increase in visitors at Tasik Kenyir. Last year, 413,947 visitors came, and this year, up until October, 663,084 people visited the lake.
The arrivals this year is expected to reach the targeted 750,000 visitors by the end of this month as the arrivals from events such as Kenyir Festival, the Asean Monsoon Casting Tournament and the arrivals of visitors at the duty-free area at Pengkalan Gawi over the last two months had not been tallied yet.
Unofficially, the Kenyir Festival attracted more than 200,000 visitors, while the Asean Monsoon Casting Tournament attracted about 50,000 participants and spectators. Even the Kenyir International Triathlon held in August attracted about 100,000 visitors.
The government anticipates more than one million people to visit Tasik Kenyir next year, when all the facilities are completed, including hotels and parking bays. The state is also expected to get the spillover as the Federal Government starts promoting Visit Malaysia Year 2020 from next year.
Another exciting development would be the progress of the Kuala Terengganu City Centre (KTCC), which would boost urban and coastal tourism by making the state a tourism gateway to the region.
Developed over a 16ha site in Muara South and 56ha of land in Muara North, it would turn Kuala Terengganu into a modern commercial city. The main attraction, when completed, would be a RM250 million drawbridge that will house an observation platform, gallery and cafe.
The KTCC project is progressing well with some structures already completed and others, like the drawbridge, are more than 80 per cent complete. This project will turn Kuala Terengganu from an urban village into a vibrant Heritage Waterfront City.
The government is giving emphasis on tourism because of the industry’s potential to drive the economy and provide direct income to the smaller players.